Moving On
by Question28
Summary: Harry Potter was a great Auror but was he a great father? A great fiancé? No he wasn't. His actions and decisions have changed everything. For years he has avoided what was coming, but no longer. One-shot.


Moving On

"So that's it then?" Harry questioned lightly, as lightly as he could while holding a ring in his hand, standing on the front step of his home…former home. It was snowing and he wore a simple jacket and his rumbled suit beneath, not fit for standing in the snow. His hair was already a mess, as always, but the howling wind and the falling snow had only added to its ultimate demise; slick against his face, his long and uncombed hair fell over his eyes. He was forced to reach up and push back his bangs, away from his glasses and eyes just so he could concentrate on the scene before him.

It was an unfortunate scene, but one he hadn't necessarily been too surprised to see. If he was honest with himself, he was surprised it had taken this long for it to happen. Not because he thought of her as a harlot or slut or even a whore, no it was because of him. He was diligent, unorganized and forgetful in certain aspects of his life, but there was one thing he was good at in his adult life, maybe the only thing he was really good at anymore. He was an Auror, a damn good one too. Had been for seven years and those seven years he had become the very best at his job, not because he solved case after case after case, no nothing like that. It was because he was focused and saw the small details no one did, he knew where to look, who to talk too, what to ignore or not to ignore. It was these skills that made him realize one thing about himself…he was a lousy friend and an awful fiancé.

"I wish it wasn't," Ginny stated truthfully, holding a tiny baby in her arms, snuggled deeply in a woolen blanket and its face shielded by the wind. Time had been good to her over the last seven years, gone was the hero-worshipping teenager that fawned after the Chosen One. All that remained was a devoted mother whom had given up her sports career to be a mother and hopefully a wife too one day, but two children on and still the wife part had yet to develop. Her hair pooled around her shoulders, her eyes heavy, she had been crying. She wore jeans and a nice blouse, earrings too, makeup on her face and hair done nicely.

"Then let's work it out," he knew it was hopeless to try.

"You and I both know that won't happen."

Harry shook his head. "I can be better."

"Honestly, do you hear yourself right now?" Ginny scoffed, she was feeling insulted. "We have two children Harry, we've been engaged for four years and we have a house together. If you haven't gotten better with all of those things already in our relationship then what is the point in trying anymore? No, no, I think this is where we say good-bye."

"I'm still their father," Harry told her, pointing to the baby in her arms. He was cold as he stood there, wishing he could enter the home and get warm. He had intended on leaving work early, cook dinner, but had gotten lost in reports and witness accounts, it was two-and-a-quarter hours after the time he said he would have been home.

That hadn't been the first time he was home late. Year after year there had been more and more time he had been home later than he said, days where she had begged him to come home on time and see the family to make it to family dinners, he had told her of course he would. He was lying, not intentionally but soon he would be focused upon his files, the witnesses, the suspects. His mind became solely focused upon the job. There had been so many times where Ginny had been left alone with the kids at family dinners with her parents and brothers and Hermione and he was not there, they offered her smiles and grins and played with the kids all telling her he'd be home soon. Only she seemed to see it was all for naught, he had changed.

"What's their birthdays?" Ginny asked with fire in her eyes. She dared him, had backed him into the corner. There was no outcome, to this question, that would be a win for him. She knew that and so did Harry Potter. The great Chosen One, the Boy-Who-Lived, the devoted Auror and seeking of justice; the man who would spend sixteen hours reading over reports, taking pages upon pages of notes, cross the world to hunt a dark witch or wizard, the man who had single-handedly taken down a dragon smuggling ring…did not know his children's birthdays.

Silence grew between them as Harry stared at her. She waited for him, knowing each second that went silent was another nail in his coffin. Ginny felt a tear fall, but it was an angry tear, not a sad one. Before her stood the love of her life, or so she had thought. For years she had been in love with him, utterly devoted, but then she began to see cracks between them. The darkness of his work had been seducing him, as he became more and more important in the department his family became less important. His friends heard from him only infrequently now, he blamed them just as Ginny had blamed herself for their failing relationship.

The nights he spent away she had cried and been mad at herself, her heart and mind told her it was her fault. For years she told herself to be better but only saw him push her farther and farther away. He neglected their children, barely spoke to them, barely played, their youngest was almost five months old and yet had held him only once. When James had been born he hadn't even been there, where was he? She hadn't even known. Three weeks had gone by since she had given birth and then he reappeared, having been in Australia hunting a serial killer whom had run from the law. He hadn't even asked about the birth.

"You should leave…" Ginny said finally, taking a large breath, she shifted on her feet to stand taller and then pointed a petite finger towards the street. He went to speak, tried to step towards her and the baby, but she held up a hand and shook her head. "…no, don't pretend to care about us when all you think about is your job. I won't give you any other chances, I'm sick and tired of you ignoring your family. You care about protecting people but yet you aren't here protecting us. You think you're a hero, you really do and you were once, but you're nothing compared to the man I fell in love with. You're worse, you're vile and selfish. I won't have it anymore."

"I am not like that."

"Aren't you?" she asked rhetorically before turning away from him. As Ginny closed the door she stopped, contemplated him momentarily and shook her head once more. "Don't come back."

And so he didn't.

* * *

This is just a one-shot at the moment, reviews welcome. I own nothing of course.


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